Test your wits at these 8 amazing mazes in Switzerland

While most farmers plan for a bountiful harvest when the corn rises in the summer heat, some enterprising landowners use their crops to create stunning and engaging mazes. Want to test your natural sense of direction? Here are eight amazing mazes in Switzerland that you simply have to try!

The best mazes in Switzerland revealed

Like the rest of Europe, mazes in Switzerland are a mixture of permanent and temporary attractions which are dotted across the cantons. Mazes themselves have their origins in Renaissance Europe, with rich landowners devoting parts of their gardens to creating hedge mazes full of mis-turns and dead ends.

While there are a few hedge mazes in Swiss castles, palaces and parks, the majority of mazes in Switzerland are made out of corn. This means that they are typically only open during the summer and autumn months, beginning in late July and peaking by mid-August.

With this in mind, here are our favourite mazes in Switzerland (Labyrinth, Labyrinthe):

1. Labyrinthe Aventure in Evionnaz: The world’s largest permanent maze

Thanks to 18.000 Thuja trees, Adventure Labyrinth in the town of Evionnaz, Canton Valais is not just the largest year-round maze in Switzerland, it’s the largest permanent natural maze in the world! Lead yourself astray and double back in three kilometres of convoluted lanes and gardens. 

Alongside getting lost in the massive maze, the park also offers a plethora of slides, zip lines and other attractions, making it a great day out for kids! The park is open from mid-March to mid-November every year.

2. Le Swiss Labyrinthe in Canton Jura: The largest corn maze in Switzerland

If you had to pick the best maze in Switzerland, Le Swiss Labyrinthe in Délémont, Canton Jura takes some beating. With a combined length of up to five kilometres, the facility is by far the largest corn maze in Switzerland.   

This year, the theme of the maze is “It’s Logical!”, though whether the theme will make the labyrinth any easier to navigate remains to be seen. Two maze courses are available for visitors to try, alongside a catering area and playground.

Video: Team Multirotors / YouTube

3. Glas-Labyrinth at Glasi Hergiswil

From trees and corn to glass, the iconic glassworks in Hergiswil have been running their own maze since 2010. Designed by artist Heinz Gadient, the Glas-Labyrinth at Glasi Hergiswil is Switzerland’s first glass maze.

At 100 metres squared, the completely see-through walls that make up the maze are sure to give you and your friends an extra challenge to deal with. Equipped with slippers and white gloves, participants feel their way around the maze - don’t try to do the maze at speed, as that open hallway could turn out to be a pane of glass, and could lead to quite a paneful head too. 

Add some entrancing lighting and you have a maze you’ll never forget!

Video: VJii Productions AG / YouTube

4. Test your wits at RhyLa - Rhintaler Maislabyrinth 

Since 2020, residents of the Rhine Valley in St. Gallen have been able to enjoy the RhyLa - Maislabyrinth near Widnau and Rebstein. The maze is the largest digitally seeded corn maze in Switzerland, meaning organisers use a seed drill printer to create the route, which changes every year.

This year, 3 kilometres of paths have been grown around a four-metre observation tower - perfect for planning your route out of the maze! 

5. Maislabyrinth Basel: Come explore the maze at Mathis Hof

Alongside offering excellent local produce and pumpkins, from mid-July to mid-October the Mathis Hof in Bottmingen near Basel opens up its famous corn maze. Every year, workers at the farm design a whole new maze for families to discover and get lost in. 

The maze itself is the size of two football fields, perfect for a long game of hide and seek! The inside of the labyrinth is also filled with play equipment for kids to lose themselves in, including a zip line through part of the maze. Finally, the site has a number of barbecuing spots for a post-maze lunch or dinner.

6. Spend a night under the stars at Steinhof Maislabyrinth

While not the largest maze on the list, the Steinhof Maislabyrinth in the town of Laupen outside of Bern makes up for it in charm and ingenuity. First, the maze itself is sown digitally when it is first planted, making for a complex challenge that looks like it came out of a massive 3D printer or was sown by extraterrestrials.

Second, what could be better than spending the night in the maze? Those who book a night stay will be treated to a clearing in the maze, a double bed, washing facilities and a table. After spending a night under the stars, a small regional breakfast is served.

If the weather refuses to play along don’t worry! If the heavens open up on the day of your booking, you can stay overnight in a prison cell at Laupen Castle instead - no, this is not a joke.

7. Find all the boars at Maislabyrinth Wettingen

Just a stone’s throw away from Baden is the corn maze near the town of Wettingen. Every year, visitors are delighted by the twists and turns of the impeccably designed labyrinth.

Children and adults alike can try and find the 10 wild boar plaques which are dotted throughout the maze. Anyone who finds them all is in the running to win a big prize once the season is done!

Video: Sandros / YouTube

8. Can you figure out how to get out of the Maislabyrinth at Kloster Fahr, Canton Zurich?

Finally, residents of Zurich are given a bounty of mazes to choose from in the summer, from the Juckerhof mazes in Seegräben to the exciting Maislabyrinth at Kloster Fahr on the banks of the River Limmat. Try and find your way through the twists and turns laid out by the corn, and use all your wits and natural sense of direction to find your way out.

Like Wettingen, the maze at Kloster Fahr also has a challenge: find all 10 farm animal pictures in the maze and you could be in the running for another exciting prize.

Get your neurons firing at these Swiss mazes!

From the large, small and mind-bogglingly twisty to ones that seem to have no end, there is a maze in Switzerland for everyone. Have a favourite labyrinth that we haven’t mentioned? Let us know in the comments below!